I'm interested in talking to people whose dogs or cats have health conditions and are being fed a raw food diet. The reason I am interested in this is that I am taking a nutrition course, which of course teaches us about all the comercally available products to treat commom problems such as kidney failure, urinary crystals, liver disease, joint disease,gastrointestinal problems or food allergies. I feed my dogs raw however, and feel that there must be a better option for a sick dog than to feed it a highly processed product.

I would be interested to know
1) What health condition your pet has
2) Did he develop it before or after going on raw?
3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)
4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?

1. Our oldest boy had head tremors about 20 mins to 1/2 hour after eating kibble. They would last for about 20 seconds. We switched his food several times and saw 3 different vets (who had really bad explainations for it....one wanted to do exploratory surgery!). I did the research on raw and figured it was worth a shot. He hasn't had a head tremor since we changed to raw. That was 5 years ago. Plus Luke was at the vet almost every other month with one thing or another. His anal glands had to be expressed bi-monthly by the vet. He rarely goes to the vet now.

2. Before going on raw

3. No adjustments. Luke did develop allergies about 2 years after we started raw. He is allergic to all poultry.

4. Tons of improvement. Our vet bill for 1 is minimal. His teeth are amazing. Our vet says his teeth are like a 1 year old. No tartar whatsoever! He has the sofetest and shinest coat. His anal glands are expressed naturally thru the diet.

1) What health condition your pet has
2) Did he develop it before or after going on raw?
3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)
4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?

1) My cat has Chronic Kidney Failure
2) It was a result of the RC tainted pet food recall
3) She's only on raw & lovin' it, addiing homeopathic & natural food supplements, just started subq fluids
4) Her kidney numbers have actually dropped slightly since being on raw (this is a very good thing), better appetite, more energetic, happier, poop is better, coat is better, her teeth are better

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I would be interested to know
1) What health condition your pet has
2) Did he develop it before or after going on raw?
3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)
4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?

1-My dog has chronic colitis (or IBD, except I've never had an endonoscopy to allow this to be officially diagnosed)

2-long before going to a raw diet

3-the only adjustment is not feeding certain meat types he can't tolerate and following more or less prey model raw as he does far better without the addition of veggies or grains.

4-there have been huge improvements in his overall health, as well as his digestive system specifically. My vet, who is open to but certainly not knowledgeable about raw feeding, thinks Streets is doing well enough that she now calls me a few times a year when she gets a dog in with sever digestive problems to ask about diet advice

Feed my foster kittens raw, they don't have health issues, but did want to let you know that every vet who has seen them can't believe their muscle mass. Huge difference in their physique than kibble fed kittens.

Thanks everyone! What bothers me about the pet food industry, and especially the vet side of the pet food industry is that it really seems like a viscious circle. All they seem to be doing is fixing the problems they create. Its really an excellent money making sceme if you ask me. We had a representative from Royal Canin come in the other day, she did an extensive talk on their diets and all the research they do on finding diets for specific health problems. At the end of the lecture I asked her if they did any research on diets that prevent illnesses such as urinary stones or kidney disease. She didnt really understand me, and started talking about the diets and case studies that they have for pets that already have conditions. Then I got to thinking, why would you want to prevent a cat from having urine stones, its one of the most common illnesses in cats and makes vets and the pet food companies millions.So much for their mission statement that everything is for the health and well being of the animals! As well, why are there so many heath problems with pets in general? Why do pets have kidney problems, liver problems, allergies, gastrointestinal problems, surely diet has something to do with it! Anyways this class and listening to reps in person is giving me a good background of knowledge... Hopefully some day I can work in a holistic clinic that believes that a natural food diet is better for animals than highly processed corn and soy products!

As far as my four,three have been relatively healthy. My cat Sencha developed struvite crystals this spring, though. He was fed a good quality dry food, and I tried to feed him wet as well but he would have nothing to do with it. After he developed the crystals, though, the vet put him on antibiotics, and special vet food. As soon as he was done the treatment I switched him to a mixture of canned and raw. It took a while for him to get used to first canned, and then I started mixing raw in. Now he actually chews up small chunks of turkey wing, or chicken necks, and eats a variety of organs, meat, egg and yogurt. He has had no re-accurance of crystals or straining to go, so I'm super happy.

Before. He was diagnosed at 9 years of age after a lifetime of the crappiest of the crap, Science Diet Light dry food. I knew absolutely nothing about feline nutrition, and the kicker is that my cats weren't even fat. My vet thought they should be on it to prevent them from getting fat. Result: one cat became obese (later died of IBD) and the other one got diabetes. Both my vet and I are now considerably wiser about diet. She isn't totally sold on raw but does agree cats need wet food.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TulipRoxy

3) What special adjustements to his diet did you make to help with his health condition? ( ie is what foods did you add or take away)

Eventually weaned him off of his kibble addiction. Not easy to do with a diabetic that has to eat. Over many months, I got him eating more and more canned, less and less kibble (EVO), and now he eats 50/50 raw and canned (not in the same meal, just overall). No dry whatsoever. Dry = carbs + lack of moisture. Not a good combo when treating diabetes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TulipRoxy

4) Have you noticed any improvement or has your vet noticed any improvement?

Absolutely! His insulin requirements have dropped from 4.4u bid to 1.25u bid. We weren't lucky enough to go off insulin entirely, but many other cats have by changing to a species-appropriate diet. His fur is also glorious and the vet is amazed at how good he looks for a geriatric diabetic.